Dmitri Shostakovich in Yiddish

Our Internet portal is glad to announce the publication of unique materials dedicated to Dmitri Shostakovich’s vocal cycle “From Jewish Folk Poetry”. Not being himself a Jew, this great composer considered Jewish folk music unique, had deep feelings towards it and believed that it echoed in the works of many great world composers. In 1948, during the darkest moments of Stalin’s terror against the Soviet Jewish intelligentsia, Shostakovich created a series of 11 music pieces based on folk lyrics originally published in Yiddish.

The visitors of our website have now the opportunity to become acquainted with the original collection of Yiddish folk songs by Yekhezkl Dobrushin and Avrom Yuditsky, which formed the basis of Shostakovich’s genious songs; with the book of the Israeli musicologist Joachim Braun, where the Yiddish original texts are reworked according to the melodies (the composer himself used Russian translations, which sound somewhat different from the originals); as well as with full music scores. Most importantly, our site offers a recording of these songs in their original language: Yiddish. It was made in 2000 in Moscow, performed by Eva Ben-Zvi, Elena Goubina and Nikolay Kurpe. Our newly created video of this performance is illustrated by art works of famous Jewish painters.